Life Rumble
by Highlygifted
Summary: Harima tries to forget the pain of losing Tenma to Karasuma, but it seems like his love life isn't ready to die just yet.Yakumo tries to overcome her shyness and express the feelings she harbors for Harima. Harima x Yakumo. Rated T to be safe.
1. Departure

**DISCLAIMER- I do not own School Rumble!**

It was the end of summer. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of everyonefrom 3-C. College. During the third year, alot happened. Asou and Mikoto got back together,Imadori and Ichijou started dating, and other things happened. Things were going smoothly for everyone, sure there was the occasional misunderstanding, drama, and incidents, but  
this year seemed to go on without a hitch, until the month of June. Tenma was able to confess  
to Karasuma, and they began going out.

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Harima woke up, after hearing a large buzz. 8 o'clock. He punched the clock and it flew off  
towards the unknown, leaving a large hole in the window. He didn't care. Nothing mattered  
to him anymore. Life itself was pointless. Tenma is dating Karasuma, she's happy, and to  
him, that's what he wanted her to be, happy. But now, he isn't. Why? Didn't he feel happy  
just by seeing her happy before?

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Harima got up after sulking, and saw on his cellphone it was already 5:14 P.M.Days flew by like this. Hardly can he bring himself to do other things but sulk.  
After a minute of remembering, he speed-dialed 5. Imouto-San's. Brief silence... ringing  
seconds of it. Then, she picked up-

" Hello?"

" Yo, Imouto-san, are you busy?"

" N..o, Harima-san, do you need something? " her voice said with the same shy tone he knew ever since he met her.

" Can you meet me at the dock? I want your help on something." His voice was blank. But he knew Yakumo would know the urgency behind this.

" Sur...e."

" Thanks. " and he hung up. Harima grabbed a folder from the desk next to him, and then head out towards the dock on his motorcycle.

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The sun was setting, the orange glow shot down and basked everything in it's radiance. Harima ignored it, trying to block out the pain this romantic light he hoped to share with Tenman before bought. Soon after, Yakumo arrived.

" Senpai, what did you need help with? "

" This. " Harima handed her the folder, and Yakumo opened it. Inside was the final chapter for his manga, the one he's been working on since the start of his career.

" This is..." Yakumo took her time reading it, noting everything struck a connection with real life. The heroine ended up falling for the villan, the hero choosing to ensure her happiness by leaving those two together, making her happiness' priority higher then his, and vanishing. Everything seemed to mirror the situation Harima was in.

_But did this mean Harima is planning to leave and let Tenma and Karasuma's relationship blossom? _

This seemed to be what this was gonna happen. So far everything was linked, and at the rate this was going Yakumo feared Harima was going to leave as well.

" So, Imouto-san, how is this chapter? "

" Umm... it's very good... but are you sure it's how you want to end it? "

Silence. The only sounds that followed was the waves. Nothing else. Harima broke the silence-

" Yes. "

" Then, are you gonna leave? "

Again, Harima waited before responding, this time the pause seemed longer.

" There's nothing else here, only heartache. "

_Your wrong, people here still care about you. Don't leave!_

Those thoughts echoed in Yakumo's head, but she couldn't bring herself to say them.

Harima then put the papers back inside the folder and took out something from his bag. The red berette he wore when writing manga.

" Here, I don't plan on writing anymore manga after this. " he said as he handed her the red cap.

" Harima senpei!... I can never accept this. N..ever. "

" Heh, no use being so modest, without your help, I would never be where I am today in the world of Manga without your help. Thank's to you, I was able to etch my name in history as a real manga artist. Thank you Imouto-San. " Harima thrust the berette on Yakumo's head as he sped off on his bike, south.

Yakumo was left there with thoughts about what had just happened, and what's going to happened. Waves crashing down at her feet, and a red berrette on her head.

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This is the first fanfic I've written since I ended Cascade Life, months ago. To all readers who  
previously read Cascade Life, I'm sorry about not giving you guys the ending I promised, but  
I couldn't get inspiration, but I promise to write it when I get some inspiration. This chapter is  
choppy and pretty weak (and short) like my first CL chapter, but I guess I'm just having the  
same problems starting out again. I hope you will all keep reading. I update at a fairly good pace,  
4-5 chapters a week. Like CL, I will revise previous chapters (this one for sure), when the story  
starts flowing at a pace and style I like, so be sure to read the top and bottom of each chapter,  
incase there's a notice. Thanks for reading. Please review!


	2. Last Message

**DISCLAIMER- I do not own School Rumble!**

Alright, thanks for the reviews! It's surprising how fast reivews come. I edited the part about  
the last page, since I think it's better to move it to the part I'm writing now.

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The first day of school...Onee-san already left for college last night. Her flight to Kyoto University was at 1:15AM.  
All of her friends left for somewhere else. Onee-San said something about Mikoto going  
to Osaka's college, and Eri heading to one in England. No one knew what college Akira was attending.

It felt odd, to only make 1 bento. Not only that, but school itself felt different. Being seniors,  
lack of commotions with everyone off to college, and many other things. Among all these  
differences, was the fact that the number of people who flirted with her dropped. Being  
in 3-D, only people from 3 came to try and flirt, no one from the grades below tried.  
After a week of uneventful and carefree living, something finally happened. As Yakumo  
entered the class, everyone became quiet.

" A..m I interupting something " she stammered. She never lost her shyness.  
" Hey Yakumo, I never knew you wrote manga. " a person said  
" Wh..at? "

The person handed her this week's issue of Manga-Kan. Harima's manga gained a good amount of popularity last year, and apparently, people are reading the finaly chapter today. She knew about the whole story, since she reviewed it already for Harima-kun, so she just skimmed through it quickly.

As she flipped to the last page, she saw what she least expected. The character the hero shared his feelings and troubles with, the character Harima put in, after hearing her advice. She was asking the hero if this is really ok, and what he wanted, and the hero replied "yes". But the most stunning thing about this page was that the character who's face has always been shadowed out and never revealed, was shown today, and she looked exactly like Yakumo. And at the bottom of the page, it read- In honor of Yakumo Tsukamoto, editor,assistant, and friend, " Thank you for all your help. "

This page wasn't in the packet that Harima-kun showed her. No, this page must've been added after the review.

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During lunch, Yakumo ignored her bento. Instead, she went outside to buy the latest issue of Manga-Kan, and then wentup to the rooftop. There, she read the last chapter over, and over. But she'd always spend the most time on the last page.  
The page that Harima wrote his thanks. Everytime she came to that, her eyes felt watery, not from the wind, not from the humidity.

_Why am I crying? What's there for me to cry about?_

Ding-Dong Ding-Dong, Dong-Ding Ding-Dong

Yakumo dried up her tears and went back to class. Lunch ended, and she couldn't let anyone  
see her like this, it'd give boys the idea that this was a chance for them.

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A few days later, Tenma called. She asked how Yakumo was doing, how's school, how's life. Those sort of things that an older sister would ask. Yakumo knew Tenma was enjoying life in Kyoto, since Karasuma-kun was also there.

Then a few days after that, Mikoto called.

" Yakumo, have you read last week's Manga-Kan? "  
" Y..es.. " stammered Yakumo.  
" When'd you get into Manga? Even Tenma said she didn't know! "

_What to do? Harima-kun asked me never to reveal his identity, but here she was, facing mobs of people asking for the true identity of Hario Harima. _

" I just helped him review... that's all. "

_It's part of the truth, I did just start out only reviewing._

" It said here that you did more then just review it! "  
" U..mm... I only helped him reach a deadline a few times. Really. "

_Harima did only ask me to help ink things and do real work when a deadline was near. That much is true._

" Well... if you say so. I gotta go, talk next time. "

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School seemed boring now. Eventually most of the boys in year 3 gave up on her, and she  
was allowed to have some peace. With Akira gone, Sarah was now president of the Tea Club,  
and they had to start looking for more members. They found a few 2nd year girls interested in  
joining.

Everyday, Yakumo would go to the roof to eat lunch. No one asked why, not even Sarah, but she'd  
follow sometimes and eat with Yakumo on the roof.

Slowly, Yakumo developed more habits. Like during her free time, she'd go to the zoo, or visit the docks.

_Why do I go there? Am I looking for something? What's there for me to find?_

She already knew the answer, but she just couldn't tell herself that.

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Thanks again for those who reviewed this story already. My chapters are relatively short, as  
you can see. However, I update when I get inspiration or ideas, so 2 updates in 1 day may not  
be surprising, (I think my record is 4 in 1 day, back when I first started Cascade Life).  
Sorry if I don't have the way they talk right, since they don't have a English dubbed version  
out yet, it's hard to mimic their speech in English without firsthand knowledge on how would it  
work if they were to talk in English. Criticism is welcome.


	3. Seeking Chance

**DISCLAIMER- I do not own School Rumble!**

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I got around 2-3 chapters of ideas in my head, so expect  
heavy updates today. Now, I'm gonna try and incorporate a bit of Japanese into the story,  
just to make it seem more realistic, since just English seems a bit odd to me. If you guys don't  
like it, just tell me in the reviews, remember, I need criticism, I'm not a proffesional writer yet,  
this is just my second fan-fic. Oh, and just a note to those who remember WAS Burger,  
in real life, MOS Burger is delicious, if your in Taiwan or Japan, go there, and order to rice  
based combo, the burgers are mediocre, but if it's got rice, it's GOOD.  
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Yakumo's life went on, week by week. Even so, there wasn't a week that she didn't go check  
at the dock or zoo. Tenma, Akira, Eri, and Mikoto all called frequently to ask how she was  
doing, especially Tenma, yet none of them seemed to catch the hint of sadness and loneliness  
that she had, except Akira, who kept quiet about it.

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The first term was drawing to a close, and Yakumo's searches proved fruitless. However,  
her luck changed one day when a student from 2-B came talked to her during lunch.

" Ano.. sumimasen (Umm.. Excuse me) are you Yakumo Tsukamoto? "  
" Hai. (Yes) "  
" I was wondering if you can.. um.. help me with my manga a bit.. " the boy stammered.

Yakumo stared above the boy's head, _I hope I don't get a bad review_

After knowing his intentions, Yakumo nodded and took the small stack of papers, and started to read.  
The story was original, but still within the boundries of a classic manga. It was solid, had a good cast,  
the cast members were original, and the story flowed smoothly. As she read on, something caught her  
attention, the way the shadows were drawn, and the writing, that style belonged to...

" Ano... did you write this part? " Yakumo pointed to the climax pannel.  
" Uhh... oh yeah. Some guy helped me with that when I was at Tokyo, eating at WAS Burger. "  
" Do you happen to remember what he looked like? "

_Could this be Harima-kun? The writing style, the shadows..._

" Hmm... I think he was tall, had black hair, and looked kinda like a delinquient. "

Yakumo's heart skipped a beat. Delinquent. The word that everyone but her would use to  
describe Harima. It had to be...

" How long ago was this? " she tried to ask as normally as she could, masking up the sense of urgency.  
" Last week when I was visitng my cousin. "

_A week ago. Could Harima have left Tokyo? Maybe he's still there..._

After a few seconds, Yakumo remembered the manga script in her hands. And finished reading the last few pages.

" It's pretty good. Just keep practicing with the speech. " she critiuqed.  
" Really? Can you help review it later in the future? " he asked with a sense of pride in his voice.  
" Sure. I'd be happy to help. " Then, she saw his thoughts shift-

_YES! This got a good review from the editor of Hario! Maybe the Chief will accept it..._

" Umm... one more thing. Don't try and submit it yet. Work on it a bit more. "  
" Oh... ok. " the boy half sulked, half puzzled on how she knew about his idea of submitting it.

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That night, Yakumo couldn't relax. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Harima. Why is he  
in Tokyo? What's he up to? Why'd he leave so suddenly? So after much thought, Yakumo  
decided to head to Tokyo, and try to find Harima. Tomorrow was Saturday, so it didn't matter.  
She'd leave in the morning.

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Alright, the moment this chapter goes up, the 4th chapter is going to be started on, so wait  
a bit. I hope you all don't think this is too abrupt of a decision to go look for Harima, my original  
idea was to have Yakumo read the latest issue of a Manga, and realize the style, call the editor,  
meet the writer, then learn of Harima being in Tokyo, but that seemed weird, that a full fledged manga  
artist getting advice from a random person, so I decided to have a struggling newbie artist ask the  
now reknowned editor for Hario Harima, and have her find out Harima's location that way.  
REVIEW PLEASE!


	4. Reconciliation

**DISCLAIMER- I do not own School Rumble!**

The morning sun rose, as Yakumo made her way out of the subway station. Even this early  
in the morning, it was crowded. Still, it was Tokyo, the most populated area in Japan. Nothing  
here was large or spacial, everything was small and compact. The fall wind gently blew as  
Yakumo wandered around, wondering where to look first. Even though she planned on coming  
last night, she never made up a plan to look for him. Or what to even say to him for that matter.  
She decided to look for every WAS Burger place, and ask the employees there.

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Hours went by, nothing. After seven WAS Burgers, nothing. No results. Everywhere she asked  
for a delenquient like teenager who looked like he was about to enter college, wearing a pair  
of dark glasses, she got the same reply. No. After checking every last WAS Burger, it was 1:08 PM.  
The day wasn't even half over, but yet she already combed the city. Every alley, restaurant, park,  
store, anyplace she could think of. It wasn't hard, since she was looking for a delinquient wearing  
dark shades. However, it was taxing to see nearly every single (and some NONE single) male's  
thoughts when they saw her, and she felt the small fatigue of the repeated usage build up.

_I guess he already left Tokyo._

So in the end, Yakumo ended up sitting in the park with a small cup of soup in her hands. However,by the time she was half-done with it, a good crowd of college-aged people had gathered around her.

_ Kawaii!!! (Cute) _

_Wonder if I can ask her out on a date_

_Is she already dating someone? _

_Heh, my lucky day! YES! _

Slowly, one by one boys started to walk around her bench, they all tried to seem casual, and seemedlike vultures, waiting for a chance to strike, and acting quiet-like for the mean time. However, to Yakumo,  
she was being bombarded with thoughts of the swarm. Her head spun from reading all of those thoughts  
at once. She felt her head get heavy, her vision blur, and slowly, she dropped her soup on the ground and  
fainted. She couldn't see anything, but somewhere along the timeframe she was out, she felt someone carry  
her, and after a while, put her down. And then there was the distinct sound of animals, yes, a lot of  
animals. Dogs, cats, giraffe, and... zebras?

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When she woke up, all she saw at first was the night sky. Stars above her. She tried to turn her head,  
but it felt heavy and dizzy at first, so after a few seconds of focusing, she was able to regain her vision.  
There was a tall person wearing a plain T-Shirt infront of the fire. She wanted to sit up, but her whole  
body felt heavy, she looked to find a large black jacket covering her. This jacket... no, coat, it looked  
like-

" Harima-senpai! "  
" Hmm? Yo, your awake Imouto-san. " he said without turning his head.  
" Ano... where are we? "  
" The camping grounds of a small park I found. I've been living here for weeks. "  
Yakumo took a quick look around the perimeter. There was a crudely made holder for a kerosone  
above the fire, a fireplace, and a large bag full of supplies next to it. Other then that, there was only  
the roll-out blanket she was on.

" So tell me, Imouto-san, how's everyone been? " Harima asked casually.  
" They've been doing well, Harima-senpei. " she replied, still trying to sit up.  
" Good, good. So, tell me, what were you doing in Tokyo? "  
" Ano... "

_Should I tell him I was looking for him? Is this the time to confess? What am I suppose to say?_

" It's ok, if you want to keep it private, then do so. But tell me, why did you faint? "

_Is it ok to tell him about my ESP? I haven't even told Sarah of this, but he did trust me with reviewing his manga..._

" To be honest, Harima-senpei, you were right before. I do have ESP, I can see everyone who hasthoughts that include me but yours. Really, I'm not lieing... "  
" I thought so... you really do have ESP... "" Yes, and I just felt really tired from having to read the minds of all those people so I... "  
" Mmm... I see. Here, eat up. You've been asleep for hours. " he said as he turned around and handed her a cup ramen as she just sat up. When she looked at his face, she just noticed something.

" Harima-kun! Your not wearing your glasses. "  
" Huh? Oh yeah. I don't need them anymore, I suppose. "  
" Nande? (Why) "  
" I guess I can tell you. You've trusted me with your secret, it can't hurt to tell you mine now. "

For the next hour, Harima recapped everything that happened in the past year, from his point of view.  
How he wore the glasses to prevent Tenma from thinking he was that pervert she misunderstood him  
for, how he loved Tenma, the countless misunderstandings on his relationships with Eri and Yakumo herself,  
as well as several other things. Yakumo listened carefully, realizing how much he'd been through, and how  
much it must've hurt him when Tenma finally ended up with Karasuma and still wasn't able to comprehend  
or understand his feelings toward her.

_So it was a good thing that I didn't tell him when Tenma started to date Karasuma, if I had told him, after taking all that, something worse could've happened._

" That's bascially it, I left because I told myself, if I really did love her, I'd want her to be happy, and ifshe's happy with that guy, well, I'll write myself out of the equation for her to end up with the perfectending solution. So I've been trying to forget everything back there, trying to start out new, anything  
associated with Tenma-chan, I abandoned. "  
" But why abandon manga writing?! Abandon everyone and everything!? " Yakumo spoke out, surprising herself with her voice level.  
" I started it when I realized Tenma-chan's feelings toward to Karasuma, so it was heavily associated  
with her, making it the biggest thing I had to get rid of. " he replied calmly, almost emotionleslly.  
" Harima-kun, please, stop running away. You have to face this sooner or later  
you can't flee from it all your life. Come back... please. " Yakumo said pleadingly, she didn't knowif she seemed like she was on the verge of begging or not, but she didn't care. Even if she didn't have the courage to confess to him, she didn't want to see him live out here in a park the rest of his life.

" Even if I did come back, I have no where to stay. Itoko only let me stay until I was officially age-qualified for college. And I can't rent anything, since I don't have any money left. "  
" Ano... you could stay at-" No, I was kicked out from your place by Tenma-chan. Besides, it'd just bring up more painful memories. "  
" Didn't your captain tell you once not to run away! " it was the first time in years, and the very few times in her life, that Yakumo voiced herself in a lecture like tone. Harima was stunned quiet. He never knew Yakumo to have the ability to get so emotional.

_Is me running away that bad ; pitiful that Imouto-san even has to raise her voice?_ -------- Harima's thoughts

After moments of silence, Harima spoke first-

" Alright, I'll head back. "

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Thanks for the review, it's expected that there's only 1 review in the time between stories, but  
I'd still appreciate individual reviews, it helps when people can also criticize the past mistakes,  
and not just the most current ones. Thanks!


	5. Healing Begins

**DISCLAIMER- I do not own School Rumble!**

Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was wrapped up in schoolwork, since it was a Monday,  
which is despise with a burning passion. Now, some of the readers have pointed out a good  
point, where or does Eri-chan even get involved in this story? She'll come in alright, but I  
just have to set it all up first. Remember, I don't plan more then 2 chapters ahead at any given  
time, so improvisation is my writing style's key. Now, let's start Ch5!  
Note- I make Yakumo say Ano (umm) often, because I just seem to feel that that phrase  
makes someone seem shy and hesitant to speak before thinking, which I think Yakumo does  
often, and I hear ano alot when I watched the anime.

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Birds chirped softly as the sun rose, on Monday. Some animals just woke up, but already  
someone was awake before them, Yakumo Tsukamoto. She was all ready, and starting  
to cook. Ever since Tenma left for college, Yakumo only made 1 bentou, which seemed  
odd to her, after making 2 sets everyday for years. Breakfast was also something that changed  
when Tenma left. Now, Yakumo would sometimes wake up later and skip breakfast, if she  
didn't feel hungry, and if she felt tired, she wouldn't cook that meal. With Tenma gone, she  
could cook when she felt like it.

_Strange... I actually feel like I __**want**__ to cook today._

The weekend passed too fast, Harima moved into the Tsukamoto residence on Sunday,  
and this was his first meal here, since they ate outside last night, so Tsukamoto wanted  
to make a good breakfast.

" Ano... rice, miso soup, and two himonos... " Yakumo re-counted what she had laid down  
as she started to work on the bentous, something nagged at her in the back of her head,  
after not making breakfast for so long, she almost forgot some things, and this was one of  
them. She knew she was missing something, but what?

As she was putting Harima's bentou on the table, she saw the mail near the phone addressed  
to Tenma Tsukamoto.

_Tsukemono!_ (a pickle served with most meals)

She quickly grabbed a few from the fridge and put them on the breakfast platter, and wrote  
a note on the back of a piece of paper, just in time as Sarah stopped by and they left  
for school.

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_**HARIMA'S POV**_

Harima awoke to the bright morning sun and the smell of miso and himonos, but he didn't  
want to get up just yet. His head was full of thoughts and plans, he had to get it out first.

_What am I suppose to do now? I'm a college-age student, not in a college, but in the  
guest room of my old manga editor, who is also the younger sister of the girl I loved.  
And the girl I love is in a college with her love, and they're probably hitting it off  
just fine. I'm now unemployed, depressed, and relying on a student who's a year younger  
then me... Imouto-san said I can stay here as long as I want, but I can't stay here forever,  
I need to try and get back on my feet... but how?_

Just as Harima was focusing his thoughts, he heard a low grumble in his stomach, and realized  
it was time for breakfast. He got up and tried to fold the sheets as neatly as he could and put  
them away in the closet. As he walked into the kitchen, he noticed a faint aroma of miso still  
floating in the air.

_Smells good..._

He sat down, and infront of him was a tray with breakfast, and next to it was a bentou and a note.  
Harima read it outloud to himself-

" I left breakfast on the tray, and made you a bentou as well. Enjoy and eat up,  
Harima-senpai. Gambatte! " ( Don't give up! )

Harima smiled and put the note away in his pocket, then proceeded to devour the breakfast  
Yakumo prepared.

While crying and remembering the taste of the elder Tsukamoto sister's cooking

_Tastes so much better then Tenma-chans..._

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Meanwhile... Yakumo and Sarah were on their way to school, and Yakumo just finished telling  
Sarah about Harima staying over at her house, trying to get over his depression over something,  
not wanting to reveal Harima's secret.

" Is that so? Do you think he'll be alright? " Sarah questioned.

Yakumo looked up at the tree's, to see new green leaves growing in, and then faced Sarah and replied-

" Hai, (yes) I believe in Harima-senpai, he's strong enough to overcome this. "

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Thanks for the support, and review! The last line seemed rough, I'll edit it later.


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